CLEVELAND – June 9, 2020 – OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools, today announced the completion of its acquisition by KKR, a leading global investment firm. In December 2019, KKR announced that it had agreed to acquire OverDrive from Rakuten.

“With the sale completed, we are excited to begin working on the opportunities to grow our digital content platform with KKR’s support,” said Steve Potash, OverDrive founder and CEO. “We are pleased to have an investor with global resources that knows our industry, believes in our mission and is committed to helping us and our library and school partners succeed.”

KKR has a long history of successfully investing in market-leading digital media and content businesses. This investment is a reflection of KKR’s deep understanding of and commitment to the public library, K-12 school, academic library and corporate digital content sectors.

KKR is making the investment in OverDrive from its KKR America’s XII Fund. The financial terms of the acquisition were not announced.

 

 

About OverDrive

OverDrive is the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools worldwide. We strive to create “a world enlightened by reading” by delivering the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and other digital media to a growing network of 45,000 libraries and schools in 78 countries. Our popular reading apps provide best-in-class user experience and tools for staff management: the Libby app for libraries is one of PCMag’s Best Free Software of 2019 and Popular Mechanics’ 20 Best Apps of the 2010s, while the student reading app Sora is one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2019. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and was named a Certified B Corp in 2017. OverDrive is owned by KKR, a leading global investment firm. www.overdrive.com

Contact:
David Burleigh
Director of Brand Marketing & Communications
dburleigh@overdrive.com

 

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